A sad, fleeting encounter with an Iraqi occupation vet in an ATM...

[Bonobo]

I was at an ATM in a bad part of a rundown town here in Western Mass. The kind of town that people town like to talk about too much cause that's where "those people" live. You know the kind. Old rundown factory town with rows and rows of of empty old brick buildings, a testimony to the strength and vibrancy of the US when it was booming. Old silk mills in this case, filled with Puerto Ricans who occupy the purgatorial, limbo-like region somewhere between being full citizens and immigrants. These are the towns that provide much of the fodder for the war.

So, I'm at the ATM and I'm having trouble finding the right card to use, because my belt is getting tighter and tighter, fumbling through my dangerous plastic... There was a guy behind me, waiting patiently, but I was concerned about making him wait so I said 'you can go ahead' or something like that. He answered in a quiet, gentle voice, that I should take my time. It was no rush. He said he was back from Iraq and he was working on getting himself to relax cause he felt so keyed up all the time (paraphrasing). He said that he had just been stopped by the cops for some reason (something about his car even though he told the cops he was a vet) I asked where he had been and he said Fallujah. I said something like 'Oh, shit, wow. Glad you're back. All vets should get a 'vet card' that they can wave to get a fucking break from the cops or debtors, etc.' He nodded.

Continuing on, I said that I heard driving was particularly nerve-wracking cause you are so hyper-vigiliant on the road over there. He nodded and agreed that was the case. Meanwhile my transaction was over and as I was about to leave, I said something like "So what now? Do you have to go back?" and he said no, he was finished. Then as I was leaving, I said "Good, stay right here then." The last thing he said to me, and I didn't understand the possible significance until afterward was- "I can't stay." I wonder if he had to leave the country for some immigration reason. I heard that many join the army to get citizenship, but that if there resident family members are illegal, then they cannot and have to leave. I wonder if this was the case...

[Emit]

1. "I can't stay."

I hope he wasn't thinking suicidal thoughts.

[rox63]

2. Pittsfield, Holyoke or Springfield?

Just wondering, since I'm a fellow Masshole. From the description, it's gotta be one of those three.

I hope the guy is going to be alright. Sounds like he needs help, and I know the DoD and VA have been denying it to a lot of Iraq & Afghanistan vets.

[Bonobo]

4. Holyoke. You know it. Could have been any of those 3 though.

[lapfog_1]

3. I live down the lane for a vet of Gulf War I

who has severe PTSD. He is hyper-vigilant, can't stand to be in a crowd, and patrols the property every night (with an M-14, loaded). Luckily this is in very rural Arizona. He has told me over and over that he wants to enlist, to go back to Iraq. He thinks about suicide all the time.

Yes, he is being treated by the VA, and on partial disability. But they really don't do that much for him. Work for him is sporadic at best, he can survey property lines and such, always by himself.

"I can't stay." is something he has said to me more than once... meaning he can't live in the normal world.